Chapter Text
Felix is Jisung’s best friend.
College was where it started and immediately upon meeting, the waves in their brains connected. Sharing a corridor turned into late-night cuddles, early morning coffees, and secrets and worries spoken aloud only in the safety of each other’s arms.
They’ve been inseparable since.
When Jisung whined about never having been kissed, Felix planted a big one on his lips to make sure he wouldn’t feel left out. When Felix cried about his ex not having a single romantic bone in his body, Jisung made it his mission to write silly love letters to show his appreciation for their friendship.
Two peas in a pod, closest to each other.
At least until Jisung set Felix up with his childhood friend Chan, and suddenly Felix eloped, had a baby, and left Jisung for dead. Elie is a damn cute cat though, so Jisung can’t complain too much. And his friends are happy together, so really, he can’t complain at all.
To this day, he still sends Felix letters. Not as often, but still present. Handwritten and stuffed under Felix’s (and Chan’s) apartment door when he finds himself in the neighbourhood.
‘You look really pretty today.’
‘Show me your boobs.’
‘Divorce your man and run away with me.’
‘Let me hit? Pleasepleasepleaseplease.”
Friendship at its finest.
And now with Felix and Chan on a romantic getaway in Jeju, Jisung is acting as temporary father to their cat.
Although he’s a tiny bit allergic, it’s nothing he can’t stomach. Especially not when Elie is so damn cute. A sweet thing with gray fur and a pink nose. So warm and soft where he sits by Jisung’s side.
A cat sitting gig. Easy. Fun. He is not supposed to be stuck in a cramped closet.
His toes touch the door and the knobs of his spine dig into the back of the closet. Elie’s tail slips between his fingers, and he keeps butting his head into Jisung’s hip. Lack of space is not his main concern, however. Neither is it the fact that he’s sitting squeezed inside a closet not meant to house a human and a cat.
No. The problem is the stranger who has broken into Chan and Felix’s apartment and is currently searching the place, checking under the bed and opening all the drawers — looking for valuables to steal, Jisung is certain.
Suddenly, Elie meows. Loud. And Jisung’s soul practically leaves his body.
The guy freezes, then his head snaps toward the sound. With fear clogging his windpipe, Jisung watches the man slowly turn, until his entire body is facing the half-closed closet doors.
Jisung feels like the side character in a horror movie, the one everyone knows will end up murdered by the sexy killer.
Holding his breath, he blindly reaches out to grab Elie. His actions have Elie meowing again however, and Jisung can’t stop him when he slips away and jumps out of the closet to announce his presence.
“Why are you hiding in the closet?” the man asks, befuddled, only to pick Elie up and flop backward into Chan and Felix’s bed. His voice is light and airy, and Jisung can’t decide if it’s angelic or creepy.
The guy stretches out and makes himself comfortable, acting as if he owns the place. “Wanna cuddle?”
Jisung feels sheer disbelief when Elie starts cozying up with the intruder, kneading on the guy's tummy and clawing at the sweater. Even more puzzling, the stranger decides to undress when Elie makes it clear he wants the shirt.
He possesses a broad, strong back. Probably a nasty fist, too. Jisung isn’t confident enough to take this man in a fight if it came to that.
To make matters worse, Elie immediately crawls to loaf on the sweater. Traitor.
He can’t even begin to wrap his head around the situation. A half-naked man is snuggled up in bed with an adorable cat, and Jisung is in the fucking closet. It sounds like the synopsis for some rom-com he would tease Hyunjin for watching. Except he’s currently living it, convinced this will end in murder rather than romance.
Seriously, who breaks into a home only to sleep? Or is it to cuddle cats? Is this a new type of scam Jisung has yet to hear about?
His butt is starting to grow numb, and his hands are clammy. His nails bitten raw and bleeding. Despite the crack Elie escaped from, the air in the closet is stuffy, worn thin from the amount of time Jisung has spent stuck in here.
Elie isn’t even the type of cat to warm up to strangers. Found abandoned in a trash can, he’s always been wary of people — and rightfully so.
Jisung had to fight tooth and nail, buying treats and toys and catnip before Elie let himself be pet. Yet here Elie is, sleeping on a random stranger's sweater. This guy, this intruder, only had to blink his beautiful eyes and whisper pretty words for Elie to raise his butt and roar for pets.
The ants prickling underneath Jisung’s skin are starting to hurt, and he can’t even adjust positions in fear of alerting the intruder. Just breathing has him on edge, and he can’t tell if his heartbeat is loud or only in his head.
“Are there any blankets here?”
Jisung startles when he speaks.
The man continues his one-sided conversation. “You’ve stolen my shirt, so give me a blanket.”
Elie barely acknowledges the words, only snuggles further into the shirt. But that's none of Jisung’s concern right now. Greatly concerning, however, is how the intruder is slowly getting closer, and Jisung stops breathing altogether.
A hand closes around the knob and Jisung flinches backward in panic. But there is nowhere for him to escape. A cage of his own making. (Why did he have to hide in the closet of all places?)
This is bad. This is really bad.
His heart drums. Frantic and panicked as he hopes and prays he won't be discovered. Sweat coats his back, his fingernails dig into the plywood underneath him.
The closet door opens, eye contact is established point five seconds later. Caught.
The guy screams; Jisung screams louder.
His hands scramble for a weapon, feet kicking out in front of him. “T,-ten seconds!” Jisung shrieks. “You have ten seconds to get out of here before I attack!” The only thing he manages to grab is a shoe that he immediately throws at the man's face.
The shoe falls to the floor with a sad flop, but the damage is done. Blood starts flowing from the guy’s nose, dripping down his chin. He holds his face as he spews curses at Jisung.
”That wasn’t ten seconds? You liar!”
Jisung’s brain goes blank. His fight or flight instincts kick in and staring at the shirtless guy up close this time, he knows he definitely can’t take him in a fight. His only chance of survival is running.
He only manages a meter or two however, before the man kicks his feet from under him and fells him to the floor. He falls on his knees with a yelp, most likely bruising. The pain never registers though, and Jisung immediately turns to lie on his back as he attempts to kick him in the stomach. But his ankle gets caught, and it’s hard to manoeuvre while squirming on the floor like a bug.
At least he isn’t the only one struggling.
The guy forgoes protecting his nose in favor of getting a better grip on Jisung. But his hand is bloody, and despite having his wrist grabbed, Jisung can easily slip out of the hold.
Next time, he isn’t as lucky.
His collar gets yanked and there's no twisting out of it. Grabbing the arm holding him down, Jisung does his best to claw his way out to no avail.
When the guy realizes he finally has Jisung caught, he smiles. It’s not the prettiest vision with the bloody nose and teeth stained red, yet something molten bubbles in Jisung’s stomach. A fizzle tingles under his skin. Fear — he hopes.
“I got you now, you little insect.” He spits the words. His knuckles dig into Jisung’s sternum as he roughly pins him to the floor. “What are you doing here, huh? Hiding in the closet like that?” An emotion flashes across his face and his eyes darken. “Wait, are you the stalker? You’re a fucking creep.”
“I’m not,” Jisung protests, still trying to get out of the man’s hold. His eyes travel down the man’s shoulder to his hand. A punch from him would hurt. “And who are you, huh? Breaking in and befriending Elie?”
The guy freezes, his eyes widening a fraction. His nose has stopped bleeding so harshly, but a few drops fall and hit Jisung’s cheek. It’s warm. Tickles where it drips down the curve of his face.
Jisung doesn’t know why the man has stopped fighting nor does he want to stay and find out. Kneeing him hard in the side and making him roll over in pain, Jisung can finally twist free, and he scrambles backward until his hand hits the door frame. With something to grab onto, he hoists himself up and runs.
With neither shoes on his feet nor a jacket on his back, he runs.
It’s only when the biting spring air hits him in the face that he realizes he left Elie in there. All alone. Defenceless.
No. Oh no.
With tears welling in his eyes, he contemplates going back in. Or maybe he should call the police first. Or Felix.
Oh god, Felix and Chan. He abandoned their baby in the apartment. They’ll hate him, and it’s all justified because he killed Elie–
His phone starts buzzing and he whips it out to find Chan’s name staring at him.
He answers with guilt and shame bubbling over in his throat. “I’m sorry.” His thumbnail sits between his teeth, sharp and jagged.
“Jisung!” Felix cuts him off; he doesn’t even have time to question where Chan is. “Minho just called and told me someone was hiding in the apartment–”
“I know,” Jisung wails. “I got his face, but I ran out and Elie, I left Elie, I am so sorry.”
“Jisung-ah. Please breathe, baby,” Felix tells him gently. But–
Jisung chokes on his next inhale, too much air in his lungs. He can’t calm down. “Elie, I left Elie!”
“Elie is safe,” Felix assures. “He’s with my brother.”
“Huh?” Jisung sniffles. “But he,- isn’t your brother in Japan?”
“He came home a month ago. I told you, didn’t I?” Maybe Felix did say that. If Jisung really sorts through his memories. “Channie is on the phone with him right now. At the apartment, what happened?”
“Someone broke in. I didn’t recognize him, and he was dressed in all black, looking really suspicious, so I took Elie and hid, hoping he’d leave, but he found me and we fought. I ran away.”
“Jisungie. Were you hiding in the closet?” Careful, kind. Felix is so gentle and soft to him.
“Yeah. How did you know?”
“Did you throw a shoe at my brother’s face?”
“Yeah, I,- Huh?”
The line goes quiet. Muted in the background, he hears Chan ask, “Jisung was the one who threw the shoe?” Then he’s laughing like it’s the funniest thing he’s ever heard.
Felix sighs, then an amused chuckle. “Sungie, baby, I think you and my brother might have had a scuffle in the bedroom. Are you okay?”
Jisung can only gape a few times, feeling extremely confused. “Oh my god, I broke your brother’s nose!”
In the distance, Chan’s laughter only grows louder.
“It’s fine,” Felix assures. “You’re okay, and so is Elie. It was just a tiny little, uh, misunderstanding.”
It’s only as Jisung enters his apartment that he realizes he never put on his shoes. His socks are dirty, the underside torn.
It’s mortifying. If Jisung had just come out to greet Minho, they could have introduced themselves and avoided any misunderstanding. If he had simply asked who he was instead of throwing a shoe in his face, then maybe Jisung wouldn’t have blood on his cheek.
At least it’s not his own.
The bruises on his knees are beginning to make themselves known, and his elbow is tingly and numb.
In the bathroom mirror, the blood on his cheek stares back. It’s dried and flaky by now, and Jisung cringes as he washes it off, watching the water color a light orange.
Maybe it would have been better if it were his blood, actually.
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